Product data file for online marketplace sales channels

ABSTRACT

In an online marketplace environment, a seller of items can provide information relating to items for sale on one or more online sales channels to a connection provider. In one implementation, a method describes receiving a product data file (PDF) from a seller, in which the product data file includes information relating to one or more items for sale by the seller. The method also includes facilitating a sale of the one or more items through one or more online sales channels, in which the product data file further includes one or more data fields for enhanced selling features. The enhanced selling features include selling features in addition to baseline features. The baseline features include providing online listing capabilities for the one or more items being sold.

BACKGROUND

The following description relates to providing access to onlinemarketplace services, for example, to allow sellers of property ormerchandise to sell goods or items through an online auction orfixed-priced sales channel. An online marketplace, such as provided atwww.ebay.com, can facilitate the sell of items and host auctions via oneor more web sites in which people and organizations from all around theworld can buy and sell goods and services. Among other goods andservices, collectibles, books, jewelry, appliances, computers, tickets,sporting goods, furniture, equipment, vehicles, and vacation packagesare listed on the marketplace web sites, and bought and sold onlinedaily. The online marketplace may facilitate the selling of items atfixed prices (e.g., static prices) and/or at dynamic prices (e.g.,auctions).

In the online selling process, a seller may desire information on howwell its goods are selling with respect to expectations, forecasts,and/or targets. The seller may want to know high-level business metricsfor what was sold, when it was sold, and the selling price (e.g.,average selling price of $52.00). For example, the seller may want toknow top-line sales information, such as the gross revenue of theirsales. Other top-line sales information may include an average salesprice (ASP), the number of units sold, the gross merchandise sales(GMS), and the net merchandise sales (NMS) (e.g., actual sales revenuecollected from buyers). The seller may also want to know bottom-line(e.g., final results) sales information, such as net income or profits(e.g., gross revenue minus costs or net sales minus fees). Sellers mayneed some guidance or recommendations on selling, merchandising,pricing, or promoting their goods, as well as some insight on theirvolume and margin expectations.

Participants in online marketplaces may include individuals, smallcompanies, large corporations, or other types of organizations. Ingeneral, the term “organization” may refer to a company, enterprise,business, government, educational institution, or the like. The term“organization” can also refer to a group of persons, such as anassociation or society.

Some participants in online marketplaces may have business-to-business(B2B) relationships with other participants that may tend to focus on avertical market, such as healthcare or automotive. Participants in a B2Bmarketplace can liquidate unwanted capital assets, dispose of excessinventory, and buy or sell equipment, goods, and services. Otherparticipants in online marketplaces may have business-to-consumer (B2C)relationships. A business may sell goods and services to the consumermarket in a B2C online marketplace. Some other participants may haveconsumer-to-consumer (C2C) relationships, in which individuals can buyand sell goods and services with other individuals.

In one example of an online marketplace, eBay Inc. of San Jose, Calif.provides online services in which buyers and sellers can browse (e.g.,navigate), list goods (e.g., post for sale), and buy and sell variousgoods and services in a web-based marketplace. eBay provides onlineauction and listing services, in which eBay typically does not directlyhandle or own the goods. Instead, eBay can facilitate the listing of thegoods and services on its website, like want-ads in a newspaper, andfacilitate transactions of trading activities between buyers andsellers. Among other operations, eBay can provide listing featuresbeyond what can be offered in a newspaper, such as a dynamic pricingstructure, a presentation of items with digital photographs, aformatting of listing information, and customer feedback.

Online marketplaces represent a sales channel—that is, an avenue forselling goods or services—that has become popular only recently. Moretraditional sales channels include “brick-and-mortar” storefronts, forexample, a department store in which a good (e.g., a shirt) can be soldto buyers of the good. Other sales channels include catalog sales,door-to-door sales, and telemarketing sales. A seller may use multiplesales channels to sell its goods or services—e.g., retail stores and anonline sale channel such as a web site with similar product offerings.In the case of an online sales channel, a seller may either set-up andmaintain its own dedicated web-site that sells only its own merchandiseor the seller may use an online marketplace web-site (e.g. eBay,Amazom.com or Buy.com) that sells merchandise owned by several differentsellers. As used herein, “online sales channel” encompasses bothdedicated, single-seller online sales channels as well asmultiple-seller online sales channels.

SUMMARY

In one implementation, the present disclosure relates to a method thatincludes receiving a product data file (PDF) from a seller. The productdata file includes baseline information describing one or moreproperties of one or more items for sale by the seller and enhancedinformation corresponding to one or more enhanced selling featuresassociated with the items for sale. The method also includesfacilitating a sale of the items through one or more online saleschannels based on the baseline information in the received PDF, andproviding at least one enhanced selling feature associated with theitems for sale based on the enhanced information in the received PDF.

The “item” can refer to a good and/or a service. The product data filemay include information to specify item listing preferences on theonline sales channels. The item listing preferences may includepreferred images and text for the listed items. The product data filecan have one or more data fields in a tabular format. The enhanced datafields can enable the seller to track a progress of the items beingsold. The product data file may also delineate the one or more items ata SKU (Stock Keeping Unit) level.

The information describing the items for sale by the seller may beincluded in one or more reports to the seller, in which the one or morereports can enable the seller to assess a sales progress of the one ormore items. The enhanced data fields can help to cross-merchandise itemsfor sale and generate sales activity from buyers. The enhanced datafields may also include product reviews for presentation on the onlinesales channels.

The product data file may include an anchor price of the one or moreitems, information associated with the seller, and an anchor flag. Theanchor flag can indicate whether the anchor price represents a price ofa next best alternative (NBA) item, a cost of goods sold (COGS), amanufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP), or a jobber price. Theproduct data file may also include an average sales price (ASP), apercentage of a target price, an anchor price goal, one or more groupsof item attributes, shipping and handling information, one or moreattributes to indicate previously-used items, and/or geographicinformation on the seller.

The present disclosure also describes a system that includes a productdata file (PDF) with data that relates to one or more items for sale onan online sales channel. The system has one or more tools to receive theproduct data file from a seller of the one or more items and format thereceived data to be compatible with an online sales channel. The systemalso includes a list of items on the online sales channel, in which theonline sales channel can list the items for sale in a preferred format.

The preferred format includes a format preferred by the seller, theonline sales channel, and/or a connection provider. The connectionprovider is an intermediary between the seller and the online saleschannel that can use the one or more tools to move any of the seller'sitem data and auction information to the online sales channel.

The connection provider may receive the product data file from theseller and validate the data in the product data file. The validationcan include checking the product data file for errors and missing data,and ensuring an amount of data to enable an item listing and/or an itemauctioning. The one or more tools may include a converter tool thatreceives the product data file and validates the data in the productdata file. The converter tool may also convert the data in the productdata file into a text format. The one or more tools may also include anupload tool to upload the text file into a merchant tool database. Theremay also be a tool for creating item listings and auction profiles, inwhich the item listings and auction profiles can include a quantity, apricing, and/or a scheduling strategy. The product data file may beclassified into one or more types depending on one or morecharacteristics of the seller.

Also described is an article that enables a seller to provideinformation describing an item for sale on an online marketplace. Thearticle is for a connection provider that interprets and formats theinformation for sale on the online marketplace. The article includesbaseline information describing one or more properties of the item forsale. The article also includes enhanced information corresponding toone or more selling features associated with the item for sale, in whichthe baseline information and enhanced information include data in one ormore data fields. The article has logic to constrain the one or moredata fields to ensure that data the associated with the data fieldsconform to one or more specifications of the connection provider.

In another aspect, an article is described for a machine-readable mediumstoring instructions operable to cause a machine to perform operationsthat includes receiving a product data file (PDF) from a seller, andfacilitating a sale of one or more items through one or more onlinesales channels in regards to baseline information in the received PDF.The product data file includes baseline information describing one ormore properties of one or more items for sale by the seller, andenhanced information corresponding to one or more enhanced sellingfeatures associated with the items for sale. The operations also includeproviding at least one enhanced selling feature associated with theitems for sale based on the enhanced information in the received PDF.

The systems and techniques described here may provide one or more of thefollowing advantages. For example, a connection provider (e.g., anintermediary entity that can provide services to sell items on onlinemarketplaces) may provide a seller with insight and recommendations onmerchandise to enhance the strategic position of the seller. The sellercan adapt sales strategies and positioning in a dynamic salesenvironment. The connection provider can also provide top-line salesinformation to help the seller to realize how well sales are trackingagainst forecasts. The bottom-line information provided by theconnection provider to sellers can help sellers to reduce their costsand expenses while maximizing sales potential. One or more reports tothe seller can be automatically generated to reduce the amount of costsassociated with employing human labor. The reports can showinterrelationships in sales activities, as well as and cause-and-effectpatterns in the seller's selling strategy over time (e.g., the sellercan lower the target price to see if they can sell more units). Theseller can also have a greater level of control over how their goods aresold than what is typically provided in an online marketplaceenvironment. The seller may provide the connection provider with one ormore standard files of information to provide enhanced value of sellingitems over one or more online sales channels (e.g., enhanced productlistings and descriptions). The seller may be able to obtain informationand guidance regarding selling their items on the online sales channelswhere such information and guidance may not normally be easily obtained,if obtained at all, in an online auction environment.

The details of one or more implementations are set forth in theaccompanying drawings and the description below. Other features andadvantages will be apparent from the description and drawings, and fromthe claims.

DRAWING DESCRIPTIONS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a connection between a seller and anonline sales channel.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a connection architecture.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a product data file (PDF).

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram for generating a product data file.

FIGS. 5A and 5B are representations of a merchant dashboard.

FIGS. 6A and 6B are diagrams illustrating contents of a product datafile.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a computer system architecture.

Like reference symbols in the various drawings may indicate likeelements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a connection 110 between a seller 103and an online marketplace 106. The seller 103 may offer items to sellthrough the online marketplace sales channel 106. As used herein,“items” can mean goods—whether new, used or refurbished—services, or acombination of goods and services. In one implementation, the seller 103can employ a connection provider 120 who will facilitate the connection110 to one or more online marketplaces 106. The online marketplaces 106may provide a primary or alternative sales channel for the seller 103.The one or more online marketplaces 106 may or may not be owned and/orcontrolled by the connection provider 120. Typically, the connectionprovider 120 is a separate legal entity from the online marketplaces 106to which it provides a connection 110.

Examples of connection providers include Accenture Ltd., ChannelAdvisorCorp. and AuctionWorks, Inc. Examples of sellers include manufacturers,distributors, retailers, corporations, and government entities. Inaddition, enterprises not ordinarily in the business of selling goods, aservices provider, for example, may nevertheless find it beneficial toestablish an online sales channel to sell items such as used computerequipment, office furniture, excess supplies and the like. Examples ofonline sales channels include eBay, Amazon, and Buy.com.

A seller 103 need not necessarily employ a connection provider 120 todevelop an alternative sales channel on the online marketplace 106, butrather may develop the alternative sales channel using its own personneland resources, for example, by accessing the online sales channeldirectly and listing its items for sale. Typically, directly listingitems for sale on an online sales channel requires an investment of theseller's resources including personnel time, technology, and capital.For example, an automobile parts supplier may hire its own staff andpurchase extra computers and software to list, for example, new orrefurbished automobile parts on eBay.

Alternatively, the seller 103 may employ a third-party connectionprovider 120 to develop an alternative sales channel on the onlinemarketplace 106. In that case, the seller 103 need not, for example,hire extra staff, buy additional equipment, or develop the in-houseexpertise for the alternative sales channel. Rather, the seller 103 canhire the connection provider 120 to outsource the development andmaintenance of the alternative sales channel. In hiring the connectionprovider 120, the seller 103 may form a relationship or an account withthe connection provider 120. The connection provider may provide amultitude of services to the seller, such as customer service, salesstrategy, auction strategy, logistics management, and checkoutprocedures.

When sellers provide information on the goods they are selling, they maytypically be limited to how much information they can provide. Thelimited amount of information may reduce the amount of control theseller has over the sale of their goods. For example, the sellers maynot be able to customize the sale of their goods. In another case, theseller may not receive enough information or feedback about the sale oftheir goods to maintain or enhance sales performance. The seller mayalso not have sufficient knowledge about the nuances (e.g., audience,promotion, options, selling strategies) of the market place to selleffectively. If the seller could track the progress of the sale ofcertain goods on an online marketplace, for example, the seller coulddynamically adjust the type, quantity, and/or prices of goods that arebeing sold.

The present disclosure describes systems, methods, and techniques inwhich the connection provider 120 provides one or more services to oneor more sellers. The connection provider 120 can provide a report toshow key metrics to the seller regarding the sales of the seller goods.The report may be a dashboard that can include, among other metrics,item sales information, top-line highlights, bottom-line highlights, andan executive summary. The dashboards can provide feedback to the sellerfor various reporting periods (e.g., daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly,annually, year-to-date, and/or user-definable date ranges). Informationin the dashboards can be provided automatically and may be standardizedto a defined format. The type and amount of information provided may bescalable and based on the quantity of goods sold. The dashboard canprovide value and a competitive advantage to sellers in strategicallypositioning their items in an online marketplace.

The seller can supply information about the items being sold to theconnection provider—for example, in the form of an electronic documentsuch as a Product Data File (PDF)—and the connection provider can usethis information to arrange for the items to be sold on an onlinemarketplace. The connection provider can supply various types of serviceto the seller. For example, the connection provider can provide value tothe seller greater than what would be normally provided via one or morekey metrics about the goods being sold. With one or more key metrics,the seller can be in a better position set one or more strategic goalsin the sale of their goods. Some of these strategic goals can allow theseller to improve bottom-line and top-line sales metrics. Otherstrategic goals may involve adjusting an amount and/or type of good thatis sold, responding more quickly in a dynamic sales environment, anddetermining what benefits they can receive from their online saleschannel and/or connection provider.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a connection architecture in which aconnection provider 244 facilitates the access (e.g., connection) of oneor more merchants/sellers 212 to one or more online sales channels 216.The connection provider 244 may receive information from a seller 212,in which the information describes one or more items for sale by theseller. The connection provider 244 may facilitate a sale of the itemthrough one or more online sales channels 214. The connection provider244 may also facilitate fulfillment of the item for sale with afulfillment center 232. In a typical implementation, the connectionprovider 244 can provide services and a software infrastructure (e.g.,data communications, order management integration, checkout processes,and user interface capabilities) that enables a merchant/seller 212 toprovide information describing one or more items to be sold on an onlinesale channel. The connection provider 244 may then list the items forsale on one or more online sales channels 216 and, depending on thelevel of service selected by the seller/merchant 212, can fulfill anorder (that is, a consummated sale) of an item using a fulfillmentcenter 232 that is appropriate to the nature of the item sold.

The fulfillment centers 212 may have one or more parameters tailored tocharacteristics, features and/or processing requirements of the solditem. For example, FC1 may correspond to a “new-in-box” fulfillmentcenter that handles fulfillment of sales of items that are sold as newin boxes as received from the item's manufacturer (e.g., TV sets orlaptop computers). FC2 may, for example, correspond to a “refurbishment”fulfillment center that receives used, and potentially damaged, itemsfrom a seller and then refurbishes them as needed to place them incondition for sale. Such refurbishment may include activities such ascleaning, reformatting, replacing consumable components, re-labeling,certifying and/or virtually anything else needed to place the items inthe desired condition for sale. Computer equipment that has been usedinternally by a seller's employees, and which is being upgraded orreplaced, is an example of the types of items that may be fulfilledthrough a refurbishment fulfillment center. Another example may includea product that has been returned to a manufacturer or retailer.

Further, FC3 may correspond to a “fragmented inventory” fulfillmentcenter. In this type of fulfillment center, a seller typically has acollection of various odds and ends that it wants to sell through anonline sales channel. In many case, these odds and ends may not be partof regular inventory and be in various states of disorganization ordisrepair. For example, following a large sale or after takinginventory, a department store may discover that it has many items thatare close-outs, last of kind, odd sizes, mis-marked on unlabeled, and soon. Because in many cases such odds and ends are not adequately recordedin the seller's inventory database, the seller may be unable to prepareor send a PDF 250 that describes these items at a SKU (Stock KeepingUnit) level—a unique identifier, usually alphanumeric, of a particularitem that allows it to be tracked for inventory purposes.

To dispose of these odds and ends the department store can load up theitems and send them directly to a fragmented inventory fulfillmentcenter, which will then process the items, for example, by organizing,labeling, pricing, inventorying, assigning SKUs, re-conditioning,grouping, photographing (e.g., for display on the online sales channelweb-site) and so on. An end result of such processing by a fragmentedinventory fulfillment center typically would include the creation of anelectronic data file, such as the PDF 250 and product photos describingeach of the fragmented inventory items at a SKU level, which could thenbe transmitted to the connector provider's computer systems by thefulfillment center. Note that such an implementation of a fragmentedinventory fulfillment center provides an additional level of service tothe seller—namely, the creation and maintenance of the PDF 250 for theitems to be sold by the connection provider.

Among the other functions described here, the fulfillment center 232also may serve as a warehouse, shipping, storage, or distribution centerfor the items sold. The connection provider 244 may, at least at somelevel, control the fulfillment centers 232, and at least one of thefulfillment centers 232 may be operated according to one or moreparameters tailored to the sold items. Because a fulfillment center mayprovide one or more services, and/or have one or more parametersrelating to fulfilling orders for items sold for multiple sellers, theremay be at least one fulfillment center to fulfill sales of items ownedby multiple, different sellers but which has at least some features,characteristics and/or processing requirements in common. Hence,multiple sellers may share a common fulfillment center due to acommonality related to a particular fulfillment center's parameters.Similarly, sales of a single merchant's items may be fulfilled throughmultiple different fulfillment centers, each fulfillment center selecteddepending on geography, features, characteristics, or processingrequirements of the various items being sold by the seller through theonline sales channel.

The connection provider 244 may be an intermediary that facilitatesaccess to one or more online sales channels 216 and which neither takestitle and/or possession of the items being sold. The merchants 212 mayinclude small businesses, large companies, organizations, individuals,or other entities selling an item. The fulfillment centers 232, whichcan be controlled but not necessarily owned by the intermediary, canfulfill orders from multiple merchants 212 having the same type ornature of items. The fulfillment centers 232 may be owned, operated ordedicated to one or more of the merchants 208. The fulfillment centers232 may also be owned and operated independently of the merchants 212,the online sales channels 216, and/or the intermediary 244. The onlinesales channels 216 may include multiple web sites or marketplaceslisting the items being sold. Alternatively, one or more of the onlinesales channels may be operated or controlled by the connection provider244.

The merchants 212 may offer various items for sale with differentproperties, characteristics or fulfillment requirements. The connectionprovider 244 can identify and coordinate the fulfillment of an item forsale with a fulfillment center 212 that is tailored to a parameter tothat item for sale. As described above, a fulfillment center may betailored according to a set of one or more activities that are requiredfor preparation of items prior to delivery to the buyer. Moreover, theconnection provider 244 can identify a fulfillment center 222 that hasparticular environmental characteristics tailored to the items beingsold, such as refrigeration for chocolate or flowers sold from merchant202, in which a key parameter for the item sold is the temperature atwhich the inventory is stored. In another example, a key parameter ofidentifying the fulfillment center 224 can be geography—that is, theconnection provider 244 can identify a fulfillment center 224 that,e.g., is geographically located near a certain agricultural facility forcertain produce for a merchant 204. In general, one or more parametersmay be associated with an item being sold and one or more parameters maybe associated with a fulfillment center 226. An identified fulfillmentcenter 226 may be tailored for one or a combination of parameters orcharacteristics for an item being sold.

As discussed in connection with FIG. 2, the merchant 206 can sendinformation to and receive information from the connection provider 244.The sent information may include details and descriptions on the itemsfor sales and any relevant parameters related to those items. After themerchant sends the information to the connection provider, the merchantmay elect to have the connection provider coordinate all or part of thefulfillment obligations of the order. The connection provider 244 mayprocess the information and select one or more fulfillment centers 232based on one or more parameters from the item being sold. Theinformation for the fulfillment centers, including parameterinformation, may reside on a database in the connection provider'sfacilities.

In the implementation shown in FIG. 2, the information sent from themerchant 212 to the connection provider 244 may be a PDF 250 delineatingthe items at the SKU level. The PDF 250 may be in a tabular format, andmay include data fields with detailed item information. Alternatively,the information sent from a merchant 212 to the connection provider 244may include metadata or an extensible Markup Language (XML) object withone or more parameters of the items being sold. Instead of, or inaddition to an XML object, the information sent from the merchant mayinclude two or more objects, with one object containing information forthe items being sold, and another object with information regarding oneor more parameters. The term “object” may refer to information sourcessuch as documents, reports, presentations, files and directories. Inanother implementation, the connection provider 244 may also provide adedicated portal interface to merchants, in which a merchant cantransmit information through the portal to the connection provider in asecure, pre-determined format.

The PDF 250 may also have information that enables the content provider244 to offer additional value to the seller. For instance, the PDF 250may have one or more enhanced data fields 255 that can enable a sellerto track the progress of goods sold. “Enhanced” data can refer to datathat provides information other than minimally-required baseline data(e.g., the name, type, or quantity of good being sold).

The connection provider 244 can use the data in the enhanced data fields255 to generate one or more reports. The reports may be sent to theseller to allow the seller to assess the progress of one or more itemsfor sale. The connection provider may automatically generate the reportsand permit them to be accessed at the convenience of the seller. Thereports can be emailed to the seller, and/or the reports can be assessedin a graphical user interface (e.g., a dashboard and/or summary). Theconnection provider 244 can provide a level of security (e.g.,passwords) to the reports to allow on a particular seller to accesstheir reports.

The connection provider may also use data provided in the enhanced datafields 255 to customize one or more items being sold on one or moresales channels 216. For example, the PDF 250 may include informationthat specifics which sales channels should be utilized, and how amerchant's items should be displayed and sold on those sales channels.

The enhanced data fields 255 may also allow the seller to group itemsfor sale, cross-merchandise items for sale, and generate more salesactivity from buyers. For example, the seller may complete data fieldsto sell a shirt on one or more online sales channels. The seller mayspecify in the PDF 250 in enhanced data fields that matching pants andaccessories should be displayed for sale along with the shirt. Inanother implementation, the enhanced data fields may specify for theonline sales channel to display positive customer feedback for theseller (e.g., “The item was received in a week, and it was in excellentcondition”).

The PDF 250 may also include data to identify a particular fulfillmentcenter for a merchant 212. The identification of an appropriatefulfillment center 232 typically is performed manually, for example, bya human operator associated with the seller or the connection provider.However, identification of a fulfillment center could be performed, atleast in part, by an automated process, for example, based oninformation received from the seller. The connection provider candetermine the parameters for the items being sold and can manuallyidentify an appropriate fulfillment center.

In another implementation, the merchant sends parameter information tothe connection provider only once during initial setup of the merchant'saccount or relationship. If a merchant intends to sell only one type ofitem then the merchant does not need to resend parameter informationalong with information for their items for sale.

The connection provider (e.g., Accenture) 244 may provide a broad rangeof sales channel facilitation services, such as billing services,collection services, advertisements, and customer service. The customerservice capabilities may include a tool to interface with a buyer, inwhich the customer service tool may present contact information andpolicies for the connection provider and online sales channel.

Other sales channel facilitation services may include inventorymanagement, transportation management, order management, store design,merchandising, and listing tools. The listing tools can includeproviding descriptions, categories, keywords, titles, and scheduling forthe items being sold. The listing tools can include pictures anddescriptions of the items being sold. The connection provider canprovide information about the seller, which can include a presentationof ratings of the seller from other previous buyers to providepost-transaction feedback. Potential buyers can examine the seller'sfeedback profile before bidding to rate the seller's items andtrustworthiness.

The connection provider 244 can monitor a progress of the sellingperformance of the items. The connection provider 244 also can provideonline auction capabilities and the ability to monitor auctions as theyprogress. The connection provider can help the merchant to formulateauction strategies, selling strategies, and pricing strategies basedupon the merchant and/or the items being sold. For example, theconnection provider 244 can suggest an auction duration period (e.g., 7days), pricing (e.g., $10), and start and end times (e.g., 1 pm EST fromone Friday to the following Friday) for the auction. The connectionprovider 244 also can provide various types of auctions, such as Dutch,Chinese, Buy-it-Now “BIN”, Large Lot, and Fixed Price.

After an item has been purchased, the connection provider 244 can informa merchant 210 that a particular item has been purchased on a particularonline sales channel 214 to be fulfilled by one or more fulfillmentcenters 232. The connection provider 244 can also provide data andstatistics to the merchant 210 on the buyer and the sale of the item.The connection provider 244 may have a financial tool to reporttransactions to the merchant 210. The connection provider 244 may informthe merchant 210 (e.g., with an electronic mailing) of purchases or thenumber of bids on their items. The email to the merchant 210 may beautomatically generated by a program and sent from the connectionprovider 244.

FIG. 3 shows an exemplary block diagram of the PDF 300. The PDF 300 maycontain standard data, such as SKU data 310 and seller information 320.The PDF 300 may contain other data fields for enhanced data. Forexample, the PDF may include anchor prices 300—reference prices for SKUsthat are supplied by the merchant. The anchor prices may have anassociated anchor price flag that is stored in the seller's database.The anchor price flag can provide insight to the reference price. Forexample, the anchor price flag can signify if the anchor pricerepresents the price of a Next Best Channel Alternative item (NBA), aCost of Goods Sold (COGS), a Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price(MSRP), or a jobber price (e.g., a small-scale wholesale value).

The PDF 300 may also include information for an Average Sales Price(ASP) per SKU (block 340). Other information related to the ASP can bethe seller's goal for the ASP as a percentage of a target price (block350) and/or an anchor price goal (block 360). The ASP as a percentage ofthe target price (block 350) can be determined by an auction managementservices (AMS) of the connection provider. The AMS is a service that canprocess the PDF and is described further below. The ASP as a percentageof the anchor price goal (block 360) can be set by the seller and storedin the PDF. Goals may be set for an auction conversion rate (e.g., apercentage of listings divided by a number of units that are convertedinto sales). Other data set by the AMS can include the targets set forthe units sold per fixed price listing (block 380).

The PDF may include other features, such as descriptions and attributes(e.g., size 12, low-cut, sport socks, item number 12LCSS), groups ofattributes in the PDF (e.g., sport socks, dress socks), and shipping andhandling information. Other attributes can indicate of the goods havebeen previously used (e.g., refurbished, used and in good condition,like new condition), and may have pictures and images of the goods beingsold. In addition to item information, categories and listinginformation may be included in the PDF, as well as geographicinformation on the seller.

FIG. 4 is an exemplary flow diagram for a PDF. The connection providercan take the seller's item data and format it in a way that iscompatible with the online sales channel—so that the seller's items canbe listed on the online sales channel in a seller-preferred formatand/or an online sales channel-preferred format. The connection providermay perform one or more operations to move a seller's item and/orauction information to the online sales channel. For example, theconnection provider may receive the PDF from the seller and validate theinformation in the PDF. The validation may include checking the PDF forerrors, missing data, and/or ensuring that enough information isprovided to enable an item listing and/or an auctioning.

The collection and validation may be performed by a first connectionprovider tool, referred to as a “converter tool.” The connectionprovider may then use the converter tool to convert the informationcollected in the PDF into a text format (e.g., a format that iscompatible with the online sales channel). The connection provider mayuse an upload tool that uploads the text file into a merchant tooldatabase (e.g., a database that feeds eBay's listing format). The uploadtool may be a File Transfer Protocol (FTP) tool to upload the text file(e.g., a Product Upload Tool—PUT). The connection provider may have afourth tool for creating item listings and auction profiles. The itemlisting and auction profiles can detail the quantity, pricing, andscheduling strategy developed by an auction strategist (associated withthe connection provider) for the use of the merchant. The fourth toolcan also facilitate the scheduling of item listings and auctions for oneor more online sales channels.

The PDF may also have built-in validation functionality. For example,the PDF may be a file (e.g., an Excel file) that has associated macrosor logic to constrain the PDF's data input fields to ensure that theinput data conforms to the specifications of the connection provider.

FIG. 4 shows the connection provider tools in conjunction with a numberof roles involved in the PDF upload and conversion process. A merchant440 can complete the PDF with its item and target sales information. Themerchant 440 may also validate some of the data in the PDF. The merchant440 may also specify a web template or Hypertext Markup Language (HTML)template that is to be used by the online sales channel when displayingitems. After the merchant enters their data, the merchant 440 can send(e.g., email) the PDF (including images) to account management services(AMS) in the connection provider.

The AMS may have one or more persons in one or more roles, such as anaccount manager, an auction strategist, and an auction administrator.The account manger can determine the tier, type, and service offering ofthe seller. The connection provider may have multiple tiers based on alevel of expected volume of sales from the seller (e.g., three tiers,with a third tier PDF having the lowest expected volume). The higher thetier, the more responsive the connection provider may be in providingservices (e.g., periodic reporting) to the seller. For example, thesecond tier may represent a medium sales volume level seller, based onan average monthly sales value. Also, the connection provider can offerdifferent types of services. For example, the connection provider mayoffer four levels of service, with service level one representing themost basic service (e.g., providing basic listing service), and servicelevel four representing a total turnkey solution for the seller (e.g.,levels one to three and the services of warehouse management, inventoryreconciliation, item packaging and shipping).

The PDF may also be classified into various types depending on theseller (e.g., a type 1 client can be a self-sufficient client thatprovides most all data in the PDF, a type 2 client may want some servicefor PDF data entry, and a type 3 client may require the connectionprovider to provide extended service for PDF data entry and auctioninformation). Some sellers may have the ability to complete a PDF andother sellers do not. A type 1 PDF may have little or no errors, whereasa type 2 PDF may be mostly completed, but with some minor errors (e.g.,missing SKU). The connection provider can help the seller to completethe type 2 PDF. For a type 3 PDF, the connection provider can completethe PDF data entry, in which few, if any, PDFs are fully completed bythe seller. In general, the connection provider may offer anycombination of tiers, types, and services to the seller, and may performone or more operations on the PDF accordingly.

The AMS may also have an auction strategist that receives the PDF fromthe account manager, reviews the PDF, and makes quality checks beforesending the PDF to an auction administrator. The auction administratorcan review the PDF and perform any editing of the information. Theauction administrator can also perform a quality check, load the PDFinto the text conversion tool 430, and use the product upload tool 470to upload the text file 460 to the merchant tool 480. The merchant tool480 may store listings until they are ready to be presented on theonline sales channel.

The connection provider may also have one or more persons 410 (e.g., agraphic designer) to create an HTML template based on the input receivedfrom the account manager and the seller. The HTML template 420 may beshown on the one or more online sales channels.

The HTML template 420 and the PDF may be sent to a web-based application430 that can merge item attributes with the HTML template toautomatically create item-specific descriptions. The application 430 mayhave a web-based interface 433 and a database 436. The application 430may include the PDF data to text conversion tool and may allow a previewof item descriptions and images.

The tools in FIG. 4 can allow the connection provider to reduce theamount of time required in manually retrieving and converting data forreports. The tools can include a web-based data warehouse analyticalprocessing tool to allow personnel from the connection provider (e.g.,business analysts, manages, executives) to gain insight into sales andauction performance through interactive access to organized views ofsales and auction data. Data analysis from several sources may bestreamlined and simplified. The tools may also reduce the amount ofeffort and time required to create reports, and multiple sources of datamay be integrated into the data warehouse.

The data warehouse tool can enable information to be presented in a wayto show historical results, performance trends, and auction strategy.The information may be presented in a web-based format and may beupdated regularly. The tool may help to transform raw data to reflectcritical business decisions based on GMS, ASP, conversion rates, andrecovery rates.

The data warehouse tool can provide an option for the user to addadditional areas of data and to organize those areas into logicalgroups. For example, measurements for an auction's performance can begrouped by country, merchant, and the date sold. The data may bepresented in a tabular format or in a chart (e.g., bar, pie, line, orcolumn charts). The tool can allow dynamic addition of new areas, suchas “auction type,” and the tool may allow the data to be extracted intoanother file (e.g., an Excel spreadsheet).

FIGS. 5A and 5B are exemplary diagrams for a merchant dashboard.Dashboards can serve as an effective reporting tool to address questionsand issues for merchants. The dashboards can provide key metrics,insights, and strategic recommendations on sales activities. Thedashboards can also show standard sales metrics (e.g., ASP, GMS). Thescope of the reporting can be categorized and presented in variousformats (e.g., by SKU, by sales, by item category). The reporting canshow interrelationships of sales activities and cause-and-effectpatterns (e.g., decrease a number of units for sale for an item toincrease the profit margin for that category of items).

The reporting tool can help the connection provider and the merchant toset one or more goals in regards to sales activities, and can provide anintegrated view from account planning to customer satisfaction. Themerchant can assess the performance of various inventories of varioustypes and assortment of items. The data, analysis, and insights can beprovided by the connection provider, and the reporting tool can haveself-servicing functionality to allow the merchant to access keyinformation at their convenience. The reports can be delivered in anumber of methods (e.g., email, web page, portal, downloads), and can bereported in various frequencies (e.g., monthly, weekly, annually, anduser-defined ranges).

FIG. 5A shows a weekly dashboard for a merchant. The dashboard can becustomized for the merchant 523 and include a number of panels withvarious information. The dashboard can include an executive summary 528with qualitative subjective information that provides value to thequantitative information in the other panels in the dashboard. Theinformation may be benchmarked against the merchant's forecasts,performance targets, and competitive benchmarks. The merchant may beable to ascertain if the performance and sales are on target, and whatitems and strategies are working well. The merchant can then devise aplan for future sales growth and momentum. Based on the recommendationsin the executive summary 528, for instance, the merchant may prefer tolower sales volume for a particular item, or lower a starting price fora SKU.

The dashboard can include top line highlights 533 and bottom linehighlights 543. The top line highlights 533 can show how well themerchant's sales perform when measured against forecasts. For instance,the top line highlights 533 may show the NMS in comparison to forecasts.The bottom-line highlights 543 can show bottom line performance (e.g.,NMS minus the sales channel fees, including the connection providerfees, PayPal's fees, etc.) and reveal insight to hidden and/orundiscovered costs.

The dashboard may also show item highlights such as slow moving items546 and best selling items 548. The dashboard may also present a NMS fora specified time range and show a comparison 513 of the target NMS andthe actual NMS.

Other dashboards (not shown) may also be presented to allow the merchantto assess the performance of one or more sales, inventory, pricing, andmarketing parameters relative to a specified target. For example, adashboard can present a summary of a merchant's inventory, in which aninventory value may be presented that shows a forecast of inventoriesand potential GMS. The dashboards permit the seller to track theprogress of the sale of certain goods on an online auction so that theseller can dynamically adjust the type, quantity, and/or prices of goodsthat are being sold.

FIG. 5B shows an exemplary sales dashboard. The dashboard can include achart 520 of weekly sales activity. The chart 520 can include a legend525 and a descriptive index 527 for the legend. The dashboard can show“hot” or best-selling items 535 and key statistics (e.g., GMS and NMSfor various time periods). The dashboard may show other noteworthyissues, alerts, and news 545 to provide value to the merchant. The news545 can show customer feedback 547 from the items sold, and one or morerecommendations 549 for improving the performance and velocity of salesand inventory, as well as the growth of profits. In the news section545, for example, the connection provider may recommend adjustments tocertain levels of inventory to better adjust to seasonal promotions.

FIG. 6A shows some of the attributes of a PDF file. The attributes inFIG. 6A are shown in a table 605 that is provided by the connectionprovider to the seller. The seller may complete information in variousfields of the table and return the table 605 to the connection provider.In one instance, the amount of the information completed by a sellerdepends on the client type of the seller (e.g., type 1 client, type 2client, or type 3 client). In FIG. 6A, attributes can be entered inwhich the seller can complete one or more attribute fields 600, 601describing the item being sold. For example, the table 605 can describea pictorial description 650 of the item being sold in various attributefields 600, 601. These attributes provide a purchaser with additionalitem information and provide the seller with the advantages of offeringdetailed and specialized item information. Other competing items on theonline sales channels from other seller may not provide the advantagesof detailed and specialized item information. In one case, when a selleris selling a large number of different and related items (e.g., a numberof a type of jackets of different sizes and colors) through theconnection provider, the additional attribute information provided canallow the buyer to quickly and easily browse (e.g., navigate) and sortthrough the various related items (e.g., a rain jacket of a blue colorand a large size).

FIG. 6B shows a PDF table with a variety of PDF data fields. The PDFtable can include columns 660 showing the various fields (e.g., MSRP667, COGS 670), the requirements 680 for data entries (e.g., numeric,alphanumeric, or symbolic data entries), various service level offerings(e.g., service levels 1 to 4), and descriptions of row entries 686. ThePDF table may also provide a column showing examples 688 of proper dataentries for each row. The PDF table can include a “display” field column684 to indicate if the data entry in the row should be displayed whenthe item being sold is being displayed, or if the row data entry is anoptional feature to display when the item is being sold.

In general, the PDF table may have one or more of the following fieldsof information: item information (e.g., item name, item SKU); categoriesand listing information (e.g., merchant category, sales channelcategory); quantities and pricing information (e.g., MSRP, COGS);geographic information (e.g., city, state, region); images (e.g.,photographs, drawings); image listing information (e.g., item title,listing template); shipping and handling information (e.g., shippingcosts, delivery instructions, item weight and size, item returninformation); and attributes (e.g., item display attributes, onlinemarketplace item attributes). The PDF may also include product reviewsfrom previous customers or from product testing experts.

The PDF table in FIG. 6B may include the features shown in FIG. 6A toprovide user-defined features (pictures, diagrams and correspondingdescriptions) that can provide additional benefits for the buyer toenhance their shopping experience (e.g., detailed item information). ThePDF may have a set of “standard data fields” that are recommended fieldsto help the merchant to provide a description of the item for sale onthe online sales channels. The standard data fields may also includefields for promotional messages and campaigns, as well as data fieldsfor the best recommended practices for selling the goods (e.g.,recommended practices for shipping and handling of the item).

The PDF may also use metadata to permit the connection provider toreport back to merchants on specific attributes of the items for sale.The metadata can also be used in forming an auction profile to determinethe attributes that promote the optimum sales. For example, a merchantmay sell deferent types of video recorders an online marketplace. Theconnection provider can collect information regarding the attributes ofthe video recorders, and report back to the merchant of the attributesthat sell the best (e.g., digital video recorders of a certain formfactor from a particular manufacturer). The reporting may be specific asreporting back a SKU of the best-selling item, or can be general toreport a generic description of the item (e.g., digital video recorderssell better than analog or tape-based video recorders).

The PDF table may be implemented in a spreadsheet program, such as theExcel spreadsheet software by Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash.The sellers may return the completed or partially completed PDF table tothe connection provider. The spreadsheet may be in a standardized formatto permit the connection provider to quickly assess and validate iteminformation. The standardized format may be a PDF table with pre-definedrows and columns with some data entry fields completed with defaultvalues, and other fields that that the seller may be required tocomplete.

FIG. 7 shows an exemplary architectural block diagram of a connectionsystem. The seller or merchant 736 may employ one or more computersystem users 762 to enter information for one or more items for sale ina graphical user interface 761. The merchant's computer system may havea repository or database 725 with files, objects, and documents 727, 729with information describing the merchant's items, businesses, financialinformation, human resource information, etc. Typically, the informationdescribing the merchant's items for sale is recorded and maintained atthe level of the SKU. The merchant's information may be accessed in anetwork of computers 728. The merchant's system may also be on aphysically distributed system, in which information may reside on one ormore computers 728 and databases 725, and may be accessed by one or moreusers 762. The merchant 736 may transmit a PDF with item and salesinformation to a connection provider 703, which can use the informationto list the items for sale on one or more online marketplaces 783. Ingeneral, the information transmitted to and received from the connectionprovider 703 may include one or more of the following: business-specificinformation, such as sales and customer information; data withinobjects, spreadsheets, and text files; and business-related applicationsand logic.

The information generated from the merchant 736 may be generated by aprogram or an automated process that may not require a user 762 or acorresponding graphical user interface 761. For instance, the merchant736 may have a program to automatically generate results for certaindata fields of the PDF table (e.g., quantities for sale, startingauction prices, merchant preferences for a particular online saleschannel). In some cases, the automatically-generated data fields mayrelate more to the seller rather than to the item being sold (e.g.,shipping information and policies, item return information, merchantcontact information). The automation and standardization features of thePDF can simplify the merchant's task of submitting detailed iteminformation for a number of items.

On the connection provider's side, the connection provider can use thestandardized features of the PDF to automate validation and processingof data entries. The amount of data entries provided in the PDF may bescalable and based on the number of items sold and/or the listingdetails of the items. Due to the nature of the PDF's scalability,standardization, and automation in processing, the connection providercan provide detailed and organized item information from one or moremerchants to one or more online sales channels expeditiously.

At a basic level, the connection provider 703 offers connection servicesbetween one or more merchants 736 and one or more online marketplaces783. The connection provider may have a computer system architecturethat includes objects, documents 704 and information residing on one ormore repositories or databases 701. The information may be networkedamong multiple computers 702. The connection provider 703 may or may notshare hardware resources with the online marketplaces 783.

The connection provider 703 may also receive information from multiplesellers (not shown) regarding the items they are selling. The connectionprovider 703 can facilitate a sale of the items through one or moreonline sales channels 783. The items may sell at different times and indifferent quantities and may sell to different customers on severalonline sales channels. The connection provider can then facilitate thefulfillment of sold items through one or more fulfillment centers (232shown in FIG. 2).

As used herein, the terms “electronic document” and “document” mean aset of electronic data, including both electronic data stored in a fileand electronic data received over a network. An electronic document doesnot necessarily, but may, correspond to a file. A document may be storedin a portion of a file that holds other documents, in a single filededicated to the document in question, or in a set of coordinated files.The term “object” may refer to information sources such as documents,reports, presentations, files and directories.

The disclosed software, techniques, and systems described herein may usesoftware and structures available from the connection provider. Insteadof or in addition to software and systems supplied by the connectionprovider, the disclosed software and systems may coexist or operate withsoftware and systems provided by third parties.

Various implementations of the systems and techniques described here canbe realized in digital electronic circuitry, integrated circuitry,specially designed ASICs (application specific integrated circuits),computer hardware, firmware, software, and/or combinations thereof.These various implementations can include one or more computer programsthat are executable and/or interpretable on a programmable systemincluding at least one programmable processor, which may be special orgeneral purpose, coupled to receive data and instructions from, and totransmit data and instructions to, a storage system, at least one inputdevice, and at least one output device.

The software (also known as programs, software tools or code) mayinclude machine instructions for a programmable processor, and can beimplemented in a high-level procedural and/or object-orientedprogramming language, and/or in assembly/machine language. As usedherein, the term “machine-readable medium” refers to any computerprogram product, apparatus and/or device (e.g., magnetic discs, opticaldisks, memory, Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs)) used to providemachine instructions and/or data to a programmable processor, includinga machine-readable medium that receives machine instructions as amachine-readable signal. The term “machine-readable signal” refers toany signal used to provide machine instructions and/or data to aprogrammable processor.

The systems and techniques described here can be implemented in acomputing system that includes a back end component (e.g., as a dataserver), or that includes a middleware component (e.g., an applicationserver), or that includes a front end component (e.g., a client computerhaving a graphical user interface, portal, or a Web browser throughwhich a user can interact with an implementation of the systems andtechniques described here), or any combination of such back end,middleware, or front end components. The components of the system can beinterconnected by any form or medium of digital data communication(e.g., a communication network). Examples of communication networksinclude a local area network (“LAN”), a wide area network (“WAN”), awireless local area network (“WLAN”), a personal area network (“PAN”), amobile communication network using a multiple access technology (e.g., acellular phone network with Code Division Multiple Access, “CDMA”), andthe Internet.

The computing system can include clients (FIG. 7) and servers. A clientand server are generally remote from each other and typically interactthrough a communication network. The relationship of client and serverarises by virtue of computer programs running on the respectivecomputers and having a client-server relationship to each other.

Although only a few implementations have been described in detail above,other modifications are possible. Nevertheless, it will be understoodthat various modifications may be made without departing from the spiritand scope of the claims below. For example, the parameters listed inFIG. 3 may include other parameters for specific merchants and/or items.The user interfaces described above may be referred to as panels,palettes, pages, views, or portions of other interfaces. The logic flowdepicted in FIG. 4 does not require the particular order shown, orsequential order, to achieve desirable results. Other implementationsmay be described so that the connection provider can provide enhancedvalue to sellers (e.g., via providing real-time reporting information onthe state of one or more sales channels). The connection provider maysend the PDF along with other information (e.g., rules and regulationsfor selling items online, frequently asked questions—FAQs, user guidesand step-by-step instructions for completing and returning the PDF).Accordingly, other implementations are within the scope of the followingclaims.

1. A method comprising: receiving a product data file (PDF) from aseller, the product data file comprising baseline information describingone or more properties of one or more items for sale by the seller andenhanced information corresponding to one or more enhanced sellingfeatures associated with the items for sale; facilitating a sale of theone or more items through one or more online sales channels based on thebaseline information in the received PDF; and providing at least oneenhanced selling feature associated with the items for sale based on theenhanced information in the received PDF.
 2. The method of claim 1wherein an item comprises a good or a service or a combination of goodsand services.
 3. The method of claim 1 wherein the product data filefurther comprises information to specify item listing preferences on theone or more online sales channels.
 4. The method of claim 3 wherein theitem listing preferences further comprise preferred images and text forthe listed items.
 5. The method of claim 1 wherein the product data filecomprises one or more data fields in a tabular format.
 6. The method ofclaim 1 wherein the enhanced data fields are adapted to enable theseller to track a progress of the items being sold.
 7. The method ofclaim 1 wherein the product data file is adapted to delineate the one ormore items at a SKU level.
 8. The method of claim 1 wherein theinformation describing the one or more items for sale by the seller areincluded in one or more reports to the seller, wherein the one or morereports enable the seller to assess a progress of the one or more itemsfor sale.
 9. The method of claim 1 wherein the enhanced data fields areadapted to cross-merchandise items for sale and generate sales activityfrom buyers.
 10. The method of claim 1 wherein the enhanced data fieldsfurther comprise product reviews for presentation on the one or moreonline sales channels.
 11. The method of claim 1 wherein the productdata file further comprises any of an anchor price of the one or moreitems, information associated with the seller, and an anchor flag,wherein the anchor flag indicates whether the anchor price representsany of a price of a next best alternative (NBA) item, a cost of goodssold (COGS), a manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP), and ajobber price.
 12. The method of claim 1 wherein the product data filefurther comprises any of an average sales price (ASP), a percentage of atarget price, an anchor price goal, one or more groups of itemattributes, shipping and handling information, one or more attributes toindicate previously-used items, and geographic information on theseller.
 13. A system comprising: a product data file (PDF) comprisingdata that relates to one or more items for sale on an online saleschannel; one or more tools to receive the product data file from aseller of the one or more items and format the received data to becompatible with an online sales channel; and a list of items on theonline sales channel, wherein the online sales channel is configured tolist the one or more items for sale in a preferred format.
 14. Thesystem of claim 13 wherein the preferred format comprises a formatpreferred by any of the seller, the online sales channel, and aconnection provider, wherein the connection provider is an intermediarybetween the seller and the online sales channel
 15. The system of claim14 wherein the connection provider is adapted to use the one or moretools to move any of the seller's item data and auction information tothe online sales channel.
 16. The method of claim 14 wherein theconnection provider is adapted to receive the product data file from theseller and validate the data in the product data file.
 17. The method ofclaim 16 wherein the validation comprises checking the product data filefor errors and missing data, and ensuring an amount of data to enableany of an item listing and an item auctioning.
 18. The method of claim17 wherein the one or more tools comprise a converter tool, wherein theconverter tool is adapted to receive the product data file and validatedata in the product data file.
 19. The system of claim 18 wherein theconverter tool is further adapted to convert the data in the productdata file into a text format.
 20. The system of claim 19 wherein the oneor more tools further comprise an upload tool to upload the text fileinto a merchant tool database.
 21. The system of claim 20 wherein theone or more tools further comprise a tool for creating item listings andauction profiles, wherein the item listings and auction profilescomprise any of a quantity, a pricing, and a scheduling strategy. 22.The system of claim 20 wherein the product data file is adapted to beclassified into one or more types, the one or more types depending onone or more characteristics of the seller.
 23. An article that enables aseller to provide information describing an item for sale on an onlinemarketplace, the article being configured for a connection provider thatinterprets and formats the information for sale on the onlinemarketplace, the article comprising: baseline information describing oneor more properties of the item for sale; enhanced informationcorresponding to one or more selling features associated with the itemfor sale, wherein the baseline information and enhanced informationcomprise data in one or more data fields; and logic to constrain the oneor more data fields to ensure that data the associated with the datafields conform to one or more specifications of the connection provider.24. An article comprising a machine-readable medium storing instructionsoperable to cause a machine to perform operations comprising: receivinga product data file (PDF) from a seller, the product data filecomprising baseline information describing one or more properties of oneor more items for sale by the seller and enhanced informationcorresponding to one or more enhanced selling features associated withthe items for sale; facilitating a sale of the one or more items throughone or more online sales channels based on the baseline information inthe received PDF; and providing at least one enhanced selling featureassociated with the items for sale based on the enhanced information inthe received PDF.